Remote sound-control for broadcast receivers



A ril 1, 1969 F. w. LYLE 3, 3

REMOTE SOUND-CONTROL FOR BROADCAST RECEIVERS Filed July 14. 1965 CONTROL TRANSMITTER 1' CONTROL RECEIVER g VENOR United States Patent 3,436,663 REMOTE SOUND-CONTROL FOR BROADCAST RECEIVERS Frederick W. Lyle, Swissvale, Pa. (310 Washington Road, Wilkinsburg, Pa.

Filed July 14, 1965, Ser. No. 471,805 Int. Cl. H04b 1/06 US. Cl. 325392 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to remote sound-control for broadcast receivers and in particular to an arrangement for controlling the volume of sound emitted by a television receiver of the home-entertainment type or the sound emitted by a home broadcast receiver.

It is the practice of manufacturers of home-type television receivers of broadcast to provide control-knobs, on shafts projecting through the enclosing walls with which such receivers are quite universally provided, separately for the picture and sound-control of the unit. Now the sound-output and the picture-output have certain rather important differences; among them thisthat the sound, willy-nilly forces itself on the attention of everyone in the vicinity, while anyone nearby is able to shut the picture out of his attention at any time that he so desires by simply turning his eyes in a difiFerent direction. In other words, a viewer can instantly, and effortlessly, avoid the picture portion that he may dislike, but it requires his moving from his seat and manipulating a control knob to avoid the sound output. This, for many people, invalids for example, is no small nuisance.

Moreover, the ability to shut off sound without shutting off the picture is found valuable by people who are progressively becoming harder of hearing, in that it permits them to learn lip-reading by turning off the sound for shorter or longer intervals while they watch the faces of speakers on television receiver screens.

In short, a television receiver, and in some cases even a radio-broadcast receiver, which can have its soundoutput turned oif and on at will from points outside armsreach without disturbing its picture has a value for many people; and this is true if an arrangement can be obtained which can be applied to existing receivers by ordinary users without need of breaking into or opening their enclosing containers. It is an important object of this invention to provide such an arrangement.

An object of this invention is to provide arrangements for sound-control of a home television broadcast receiver having a closed container which is separate from and outside such container.

Another object is to provide an arrangement which an unskilled person may apply to a home television broadcast receiver for controlling its output-sound from positions out of arms-length therefrom without disturbing the picture output.

Another object is to provide an arrangement, which may be applied to a home broadcast receiver having an 'ice enclosing container without breaking into that container.

Still another object is to provide an inexpensive arrangernent which may be attached by even an inexperienced person to a home broadcast receiver of the encased type for controlling sound output thereof without moving to within arms-length of its casing.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view, largely diagrammatic, of one embodiment which the invention may take in control of a television receiver;

FIG. 2 is a view, largely elevational, of a simple and less expensive embodiment of certain principles of this invention.

Referring in detail to FIG. 1 a home television broadcast receiver 1 has a screen 2 of conventional type upon which television pictures appear, and a picture-control knob 3 which extends through the wall of its enclosing container 4, in accordance with current practice by means of which the television picture may be controlled. Also extending through the container wall is a shaft 5 by which the loudness of the sound effects accompanying the picture may be controlled, from zero to a large volume, by the set user, by rotating the shaft or otherwise adjusting it, manually.

In accordance with this invention, means are provided for suitably moving this sound-control shaft from its zerosound to a desired sound-output position. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, this means comprises a lever 6 hav ing a contractible end portion or aperture adapted to firmly grasp the shaft 5 so that the latter may be turned by movement of the lever 6. In installing lever 6 shaft 5 may be turned to its no-sound position before tightening the grasp of the contractible aperture in lever 6 on it. Suitable stops (not shown) may be provided to adjustably limit the movement of lever 6 to the travel corresponding to the desired loudness of sound. Bias means, such as a spring 7, anchored to a point on a bracket 8, directly in line with the axis of lever 6 when the latter is in its zero-sound position is provided. The bracket 8 may be L shaped and of magnetic material, so that it may be held fixed in position by suitable weight, or magnetic force or the like, on container 4.

The free end of lever 6 is connected by a link 9 pivoted to a movable element 11 of a motor-device 12 such as a reciprocating electric motor. The frame of motor-device 12 may be supported on a thin plate 13 projecting underneath the container 4 on its supporting surface, or may be placed on the floor of the room, the link 9 being arranged as to length to permit this. When the lever 6 is in its no-sound position the movable element is in its lowest position which it takes when the motor-device 12 is fully energized, and when the latter is less energized the movable element 11 is drawn upward by the action of spring 7. When sound-control lever 6 is turned from its no-sound position to its full-line position in FIG. 1 its sound is increased in loudness, but when it stands displaced to the dotted position its loudness still remains muted.

Energization of the motor-device 12 when sound is on in television receiver 1, the lever 6 correspondingly being in its full-line position in FIG. 1, will cause movable element 11 to be displaced downward, stretching spring 7 until lever 6 reaches its no-sound position. Lever 6 has substantial inertia and its velocity will thus carry it through the no-sound position. Spring 7 will then draw lever 6 toward the dotted position in FIG. 1, displacing it against the stop there after motor-device 12 has been deenergized. When the motor device 12 is next energized, which will be when the television viewer wishes to resume hearing the sound-effects of the set, lever 6 will be displaced clockwise in FIG. 1, pass through the no-sound (vertical) position, and be drawn fully to its full-line position by spring 7 when the listener again deenergizes motor-device 12. In short, spring 7, lever 6, link 9 and movable element 11 constitute a toggle arrangement movable between two stable positions.

The motor-device 12 shown in the FIG. 1 embodiment of the invention may be a reciprocating electric motor such as a winding 14 along the cylindrical axis of which the movable core, or plunger 11 slides. The winding 14 is connected in series with a voltage source 15 through the normally open contacts of a relay 16 which is in the output circuit of ancillary radiant-energy receiver 17. The ancillary receiver 17 is suited to be energized by control-radiation from a portable control-radiation transmitter 18 adapted to actuate it from a point in the auditing room at least three feet from ancillary-receiver 17. The transmitter 18 may be of a frequency and power permitted by Federal Comunication Commission regulations including its Rule 15.204 as it stands on the filing date of this application. A control-element by which a listener may energize and deenergize control-radiation transmitter 18 appears at reference numeral 19.

It is believed that the foregoing description is sufiicient to show that a listener at any reasonably remote point in the auditing room having the transmitter 18 with him may, at any time he wishes, shut otf the sound from the television set 1, without disturbing the showing of the pictures on its screen, watch the lips and facial expression of actors appearing thereon if he chooses, and turn the sound on again as he desires, by manipulating controlelement 19.

The ancillary receiver 17 may be of practically any conventional type such as that diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 as consisting of an antenna 20, feeding a tuned circuit 21 shunting a transistor input 22 having relay 16 and a voltage source 23 in its output circuit.

FIG. 2 shows another arrangement in which the principles of this invention may be carried out in a less expensive form than FIG. 1, but which may be less desirable for some purposes. A television broadcast receiver 1, having members so similar to those numbered 1 through 5 in FIG. 1 that separate description appears needless, has an attachable lever 6 of the FIG. 1 type. The sound-control also comprises a spring 7 and bracket 8 like those similarly numbered in FIG. 1. On the room floor, or elsewhere convenient, is a thinplate 25 having a hole therethrough and a small-diameter sheave or pulley with a smooth rounded surface over which a filamentary small-diameter cord or wire 26 having one end pivoted to the lever 6 may be trained so that its direction and position is altered to follow the surface of the floor or other suitable surface in the room. The thin plate 25 may be held down by slipping it under the foot or base of the table or other support on which the television receiver rests, or any other suitable weight.

When desired, a plate and sheave similar to 25 may be placed on the floor or wall where a person listening to the receiver 1 wishes to sit and the filament 26 be trained through it to a position convenient to his hand. The filament 26 will, in general be so thin that it will not impede or interfere with normal walking or other use of the floor or wall, nor is it even likely to be noticed. On a carpeted floor it will largely sink into the carpet-pile; little eyelets may be sewed to the latter to further anchor it.

A pull on the filament by an occupant ofthe auditing room will have the same effect on the sound-control of the receiver as has been described for energization of the control-radiation transmitter 18 of FIG. 1, more extended description of the operation of the FIG. 2 embodiment is therefore believed unnecessary.

Since broadcast programs are usually subdivided into predetermined time intervals, it will often be advantageous to provide both the FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 modifications with timing devices by which the duration of sound interruption may be fixed at will by the listener. In the case of the FIG. 1 arrangement this may have the form, for example, of a time switch at element 19 which will energize transmitter 18 to cause lever 6 to be moved to its onsound position after the desired interval. In the case of FIG. 2 a rudimentary clocking mechanism may be started when the listener pulls filament 26 which will sound a small alarm-bell, or apply a second pull on the filament, or the like, after the interval to which it is adjusted.

Although the invention has been described with respect to certain specific embodiments, numerous other modifications falling within the scope of the invention are possible. I therefore desire that the claims may be given their broadest reasonable interpretation.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cound-control of a home-type television receiver having an enclosing container with an external manual sound-control knob, means for biasing said knob to turn in either direction away from a partic ular angular position about its axis, and means adapted to transmit force to said knob tending to turn it toward said particular angular position.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means adapted to transmit force is a filamentary cord having one end attached to said biasing means.

3. The arrangement claimed in claim 2 standing supported on a room floor, a first thin plate carrying a sheave held down against said floor by the Weight of said receiver, a second thin plate carrying a sheave on said floor at a point remote from said receiver, said cord being trained through both said sheaves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,325,593 6/1967 Platt et al. 325-39OXR 2,769,344 11/1956 Block et al. 2,992,412 7/1961 Spindler.

KATHLEEN H. CLAFFY, Primary Examiner.

S. BELL, Assistant Examiner. 

